Technical Field
The present disclosure relates generally to computer-aided engineering design, and more specifically to computer-aided foundation design.
Background Information
Typically, foundation design is performed as a discrete process, with a geotechnical engineer providing a few initial soil parameters in an initial soil report, which are then used by a structural engineer to design the foundation. The initial soil parameters in the initial soil report provided by the geotechnical engineer are generally not updated (i.e. remain fixed) as the foundation design evolves. For example, the initial soil report may include a soil bearing capacity that is used in the design a footing of the foundation. However, this soil bearing capacity is generally not updated (i.e. remains fixed) as the foundation design evolves, for instance as the footing size, shape and embedment depth are refined by the structural engineer. Knowing that initial soil parameters in the initial soil report, such as soil bearing capacity, are typically treated as fixed values throughout the design process, geotechnical engineers often provide overly conservative values. The use of these overly conservative values often results in structural engineers specifying overly large footings, which incur excessive material costs. Further, despite providing overly conservative values, in some cases, the final footing configuration specified by a structural engineer who has relied on the initial soil parameters in the initial soil report may still be unsafe. While the values may be overly conservative within a certain range, if the foundation design evolved considerably, they could be inappropriate for the final footing configuration specified, leading to a false sense of security.
Accordingly, there is a need for an improved technique that may address these and other shortcomings of prior foundation design techniques.